Photo of the Week: Fire-Knife Dancing in Samoa

Siva Afi, or fire-knife dancing, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of Samoan festivities. Although a traditional pre-war ritual that was used to psych up Samoan warrior, it is today a demonstration of agility.

Photo of the Week: Cheetahs Posing, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Two cheetahs standing ready and vigilant in the rays of another remarkable day at the Selous Game Reserve, the largest ‘unscathed’ game reserve in Tanzania and a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site.

Photo of the Week: The Church of Tisco, Arequipa, Peru

Tisco is one of the highest settlements in Peru's Colca Valley. This church, built before the 18th-century expulsion of Dominican monks Its geographical location, is distinguished by its red décor, made with ochre.

Photo of the Week: Boats Bob in the Waters of Melissani Lake, Kefalonia, Greece

Melissani Lake is a pool of still water in a natural cave. Given the breathtaking beauty of the caves, they have always been an ideal site for rites associated with the divine.

Photo of the Week: Mt Yasur Eruption, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Mt Yasur is the most accessible live volcano in the world, with eruptions every five to ten minutes. The 15-minute trek to the crater increases the prospects of a shortened life, but that’s why thousands make it.

Photo of the Week: Beautiful Waters of the Bocas Islands, Panama

There is a unique vibe about the Bocas del Toro archipelago in far west Panama, the true gateway to the country for overlanders from Costa Rice. It's a bohemian calypso feel that even the hardest at heart will enjoy.

Meeting people from other countries and cultures is part of the magic of traveling. We often encounter charming people that share their traditions with us and we can’t resist the temptation of capturing that moment with our photographic cameras. This enthusiastic impulse, however, may sometimes cause an unexpected negative reaction.

Travel industry trend watchers have lately observed that, with the ideas of ‘authenticity,’ ‘giving back,’ ‘participation,’ and ‘engagement’ resonating with travellers, there are new alliances developing between the adventure tourism industry and the world’s indigenous communities. I believe these consumer and industry trends are encouraging.

Head out in the open to tropical North Queensland in Australia, where Willie Gordon, an Aboriginal elder of the Guugu Yimithirr people, offers fascinating insight into the ancient culture of his ancestors. See how indigenous tourism can help local communities to preserve their culture and get a glimpse of what you might experience if you set out discover Aboriginal Australia.

Environmentalists say Australia’s Great Barrier Reef was saved from destruction because tourists saw its value and lobbied for protection. No such worldwide lobby exists for the worlds oldest surviving culture. Like the reef, though, one of the best opportunities for the survival of ancient Australian Aboriginal lore is for tourists to call for its preservation. For that to happen, Aboriginal groups must teach tourists about their culture, an act that not only helps the outside world learn, but helps them pass the traditions down to their own children.

The Travel Word joins forces with others around the globe to look at and salute the role of indigenous people in tourism. All week we will focus our articles on different qualities of indigenous tourism and hope they inspire you to join us in honouring the ancient cultural roots from which we have all sprung, roots that remain robust but require our admiration, care and protection.

To dig deeper into the concept of ‘experiential travel,’ we asked the WHL Group’s partners – local travel experts from around the globe – to tell us how life feels in their destinations. We asked them to get sensory about it. Find out which of the five senses is most heightened when you open your eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hands in a new place.

No matter where you travel – the saying goes – there’s still no place like home. Luckily, for many travellers, it’s now possible to forgo run-of-the mill hotel stays in favour of a night (or more) spent with a local family. Commonly known as ‘homestays,’ such local travel opportunities offers win-win outcomes for both travellers and their hosts. Considering a sustainable alternative to staying in a hotel? Here are five of our favourite cultural homestays that offer enriching travel experiences while also improving local livelihoods.

Kafuli – which in the local Dioula language means ‘a gathering of different people’ – is a local grassroots organisation in Burkina Faso running a variety of projects, from foster parenting to programs in education, fair-trade agriculture and responsible tourism. Yes, you heard right – it’s small but it actually runs all of these projects.

I look around at the motorcycles, the well-dressed children and the minimalist huts and find myself wondering if it’s all an act. Do they head back down the mountain after we’re all asleep? Is this just a well-produced illusion for tourists? Then I notice a woman hanging up laundry and I pass what looks like a bare-bones general store. This definitely is a lived-in – and by all appearances happy – village.